SOC7013 - Justice and Control in the 21st Century

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Evaluate criminal justice processes and institutions, critically assessing competing approaches and operational practices.

Thoroughly critique the sentencing process, encompassing the wide range of custodial and community sanctions available in diverse jurisdictions along with their respective theoretical and philosophical justifications.

Place local, national and cross-border criminal justice transformations within their proper social, political, cultural, historical and economic contexts

Appraise the impact of criminal justice policy and practice in light of key prevailing social divisions, including class, ethnicity and gender.

Content:

The module examines the institutions, practices and processes that make up the criminal justice system. While areas of discussion will focus on policing, the penal system and the probation service, youth justice, gender and masculinities, the main aim is to analyse the social, economic and political factors that underpin these institutions and their impact on particular groups. There has been much discussion about the criminal justice system and the apparent failure of key institutions to deliver justice, protect the public and punish criminals. This module explores these themes in a critical way, considering the influence of social, economic and political factors that shape the agencies within the criminal justice system, and the administration of criminal justice.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Students will be taught this module through a variety of weekly lectures and seminars developed in-line with the ‘Pre-Live-Post’ Model. Students will receive interactive lectures that seek to situate criminological concepts and theories in contemporary contexts. Seminars will then build upon ‘Pre’ session tasks, combined with content delivered during lectures. The aim is to promote discussion, debate, and to encourage further research (including and beyond the ‘Post’ session task). Within this overall tuition structure, there will also be an emphasis on formative assessment, with student participating in and ultimately leading a variety of task designed to build practical skills, personal confidence and intellectual authority.

Lectures
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Workshops/Seminars
Hours: 15
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Guided independent study
Hours: 275

Further details relating to assessment
Student’s lectures will be recorded and submitted online and will be marked in line with established criteria for assessed presentations. The ‘Viva-form' Q&A session will be conducted on a 1-1 basis with each student following submission of their recorded materials. The former will consist of a series of questions designed to elicit further details on the content of the latter. The overall aim of this assessment structure is to induct our students into the spirit of social-scientific enquiry whilst also cultivating the kind of responsive intellect necessitated by increasingly professionalised criminal justice agencies. Formative assessment in this module will take place in class, students will be expected to contribute to debates and discussions throughout the duration of the module, where continual feedback will be provided acting as development process and as preparation into a primarily oral form of summative assessment.

Assessment:

001 Mini lecture with short via form Q&A session: 30 min lecture 10 minute Q&A; end of semester 1 %

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Shaun McDaid
Level - 7
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 7PGS2

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